AMD launches Radeon RX Vega and returns to high-end graphics cards

Radeon RX Vega is finally here with two high-end graphics cards from AMD.

After months of rumors, leaks and slivers of actual reveals, AMD has finally announced its next generation Radeon RX Vega graphics cards in full.

AMD’s new top dog GPU is the Radeon RX Vega 64 that promises to deliver 12.66 teraflops of performance that’s very comparable to the Nvidia GTX 1080’s 9 teraflops.

All of this power comes courtesy thanks to the card’s 64 next generation compute units and 4,096 stream processors. It also comes with 8GB of High Bandwidth Cache rather than the GDDR5 and GDDR5X video memory we’ve been accustomed to from Nvidia.

The Radeon RX Vega 64 runs at a base clock of 1,247MHz and boosts up to 1,546MHz, which is quite a bit lower than the Nvidia GTX 1080’s respective 1,607MHz base and 1,733MHz boost frequencies. Despite these lower numbers, AMD claims its Vega 64 will achieve better minimum frame rates that never dip below the 40-60 frame per second FreeSync range.

Arriving August 14th, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 will be available in three editions. The air-cooled version of the GPU looks no different from AMD’s past Radeon RX 480 and RX 580 reference designs, but there have been significant internal changes improvements including a larger 30mm fan and isothermic vapor chamber.

AMD also plans to release a limited edition run of the Vega 64 that will come clad in an all-metal chassis. Aside premium 240 grit brushed aluminum shell, this model features a light up logos and pixels.

If you want an even more premium version of this GPU, the liquid-cooled card ditches the cooling fan for an all-in-one cooling system that affords it higher 1,406MHz and 1,677MHz base and boos frequencies, respectively. You can bet this card will also have greater overclocking potential too.

The standard version of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 will retail for $ 499 (about £380, AU$ 625). Meanwhile, the limited-edition version can only be purchased as part of its new $ 599 (about £460, AU$ 750) Radeon Black combo, which includes $ 100 off a Ryzen 7 and motherboard combo, $ 200 off the 34-inch Samsung CF791 curved ultra-wide FreeSync monitor and tacks on two free games.

The liquid-cooled version will also only be available in a $ 699 (about £530, AU$ 875) Radeon Aqua Pack bundle that includes the same discounts and games.

The only catch to these Radeon Pack bundles is the discounts on monitors, Ryzen 7 processors and motherboards will only be valid at the Vega card's point of purchase. Unfortunately, these hardware deals don't come as vouchers users will be able to use later.

The other affordable card

AMD also introduced the Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics card for budget gamers that starts at just $ 399 (about £300, AU$ 500) for 10.5 teraflops of performance. This card is meant to take on the Nvidia GTX 1070, with 1,156Mhz base clocks and 1,471Mhz boost clocks.

The Radeon RX Vega 56 also packs 56 compute units, 2,584 stream processors, 410GB/s of memory bandwidth and 8GB of HBM2 video memory. AMD's second card will also arrive on August 14.

Like the Radeon RX Vega 64, this card will be available in a Radeon Red Pack bundle for $ 499 (about £380, AU$ 625).